1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field concerning the game of golf, and more particularly toga novel target for use in practicing the game of golf with respect to a player's improving his driving skills.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
In the past, a variety of teaching aids and practice devices have been employed for improving a golfer's game of golf. One such accessory for improving a golfer's driving skills is to use a net which is placed a short distance away from a spot where the golfer intends to drive a golf ball. Upon swinging the club and hitting the ball, the ball will be stopped by the net and the golfer has no difficulty in retrieving the ball. Therefore, the golfer can concentrate on his swing and the striking of the ball without concern for aiming. The advantage of using nets placed on portable stanchions is that the nets may be placed indoors or outdoors and may include secondary nets at the rear in order to stop golf shots which top the net. Usually, the nets are composed of a strong, heavy duty nylon and allow for a full swing practice in the user's back yard or in the garage.
Problems and difficulties have been encountered with such conventional nets which stem largely from the fact that an elaborate stanchion or hold-down mechanism is required for maintaining the net in position as well as maintaining the net taut so that it will stop the ball upon impact. Also, the sides of the net are sometimes loose so that the net will rise or "fly" when impacted by the ball and the ball will roll away from the net causing the golfer to have difficulty in collecting a plurality of balls after his practice. Such conventional nets are manufactured and sold by the Wilson Company, having model numers 220-000 and model 341-003.
Other problems have been encountered because the aiming feature is not considered. The nets are usually of a square or rectangular shape and there is a lack of target or selected area intended to be most favorably impacted by the golf ball. Therefore, although the golfer can practice his driving swing, which includes power technique, his aiming skill is neglected when using the conventional netting. Also, the conventional netting avoids a means for collecting the balls after they have impacted the net so that it is convenient for the user to gather the balls at the close of a practice session.
Therefore, a long-standing need has existed to provide a novel practice device having a target area against which impacting balls driven by a golfer can be stopped and which includes features for collecting the balls so that the golfer's practice need not be interrupted for retrieval. Preferably, the device may take the form of a net having a central target area and which includes a collection trough or box at its base into which spent balls are gathered and available for subsequent collection.